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Austin, Texas - Nov. 18, 2008 - Today, the Coalition for Academic Scientific Computation (CASC) appointed Stanley C. Ahalt, Ph.D., executive director of the Ohio Supercomputer Center, to serve as Chair of the organization for the next year.

With 60 member institutions, CASC represents many of the nation’s top research universities and computing centers; it is an advocate for advanced computing technology to accelerate scientific discovery critical to national competitiveness, global security and economic success. CASC also promotes advanced technology as an essential tool in developing a skilled and diverse workforce.

As Chair, Ahalt will be responsible for all general business meetings and serve as an official representative of CASC. When called upon, he will work as an expert resource for Congress and various federal agencies, as well as for state and local government bodies.

“CASC is an organization that has a long and proud history of advocacy for advanced academic scientific computing. CASC not only provides a forum for the exchange of ideas and best practices, but also has a role in shaping our nation’s technological outcomes,” Ahalt said. “I am deeply appreciative of the intelligent, diverse and impassioned individuals and organizations that comprise CASC, and I believe that we can harness our collective voice to support the national cyberinfrastructure agenda.”

Since Ahalt joined OSC in 2003, OSC has launched several model programs, including Blue Collar Computing, a national program to bring high performance computing to a wide spectrum of industries and applications, and the Ralph Regula School of Computational Science. He also serves as co-chair of the Ohio Broadband Council, the coordinating body for the state's initiative to extend the reach of Ohio’s nationally recognized research and education network and to further Ohio's leadership in network research and innovation.

Ahalt’s research expertise involves neural networks, high performance computing, signal/image/video processing and object identification. He collaborates with a variety of organizations in his active research programs. Ahalt has been a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The Ohio State University since 1987, and co-founded the Information Processing Systems Laboratory there. He received the OSU Lumley Research Award in 1997 and the OSU College of Engineering Research Award in 1999.

CASC officials announced the appointment as part of its annual luncheon during SC08, the international conference on high performance computing, networking, storage and analysis, held this year in Austin, Texas.

Celebrating over 20 years of service, the Ohio Supercomputer Center (OSC) is a catalytic partner of Ohio universities and industries that provides reliable cyberinfrastructure for a diverse statewide/regional community including education, academic research, industry, and state government. Funded by the Ohio Board of Regents, OSC promotes and stimulates computational research and education in order to act as a key enabler for the state's aspirations in advanced technology, information systems, and advanced industries. For additional information, visit http://www.osc.edu.